"Psst."

Jongdae flipped another page of his novel and mentally sighed. Ever since they had exchanged names, the other boy had become extremely talkative. However, after Jongdae was allowed to enter the library again, Yixing proved to be nothing but a distraction (albeit a rather good-looking one). The latter suppressed a violent urge to slap the other boy with his book. (After all, he had only just been re-admitted into the library, and had no intention of getting kicked out any time soon.)

"ZhongDai!" Another sharp jab was directed at Jongdae's arm.

Jongdae carefully marked the page he was on, placed the book on his knees and turned to stare evenly at Mr. Baggy Sweater (Yes, he was still mentally referring to Yixing as Baggy Sweater Pasta Boy).

"Yixing, shut the hell up already."

What Jongdae was expecting, was perhaps a few indignant pokes and more whining. What he didn't anticipate, was the edges of Yixing's mouth drooping downwards, a flicker of hurt in his eyes and a muttered "Sorry."
Jongdae stared at the other boy in surprise. Yixing had wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them up to his chest, head facing away from Jongdae.

"I, Yixing, uhm, what..." Jongdae frowned at the bundle of hurt and rejection that was now sitting opposite him and was utterly confused. Normally, after a sharp remark from Jongdae, he would just laugh and continue pestering him. This wasn't like Yixing at all.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

Yixing ignored him, his sketchbook clutched tightly- his sketchbook. One thing Jongdae did learn from the elder's constant chattering was that Zhang Yixing loved his sketchbook very, very much. Yixing was also highly protective of his sketchbook's "feelings".

"Oh, did you want to show me a drawing?"

"Not just any drawing, you meanie." Yixing huffed and turned to face Jongdae. He flipped open the sketchbook. "This."

Jongdae gaped at the sketch before staring up at the pouting face beside him.

"Really, Yixing? Really?"

Yixing pouted harder, the page.
Jongdae looked back at the picture depicting two stick figures with the labels "ZhongDai" and "Me", eating ice-cream and skipping happily through a meadow. He coughed.

"I, er, was expecting something a bit more, um, sophisticated."

"Like what?" Yixing eyed him reproachfully and pouted even harder.

"Like, um, a portrait or something." Jongdae tried not to focus on how soft and pink Yixing's lips appeared when he pouted.

"You mean, like this?"

Yixing dramatically flipped the page and Jongdae's face stared out of the sketch at both of them. The younger boy was momentarily speechless. Oh. Wow. Is my nose really that big?

"No, your nose is perfectly normal ZhongDai." Yixing replied.

, did I say that aloud?

"Yes, you did, you idiot."

, , .

"Um, I think maybe you should stop-"

"You can stop using inappropriate language right now, young man." The two looked up to see a stern figure frowning at them. "Might I remind you that this is a public library and such loud displays of foul language are absolutely unacceptable..."

***

Once again, Jongdae found himself under the glaring sun, on the other side of the library doors.

"Are you for real?!" Jongdae looked at the glass doors beseechingly but they refused to budge.

"Ah, well, I did try to warn you." Yixing drawled lazily, running a finger down the spine of his sketchbook, all traces of sulkiness gone.

"Yes, and much good it did." Jongdae spat back at him, poking the glass doors one last time before stalking off. The other boy trailed behind him, smiling vaguely in amusement. 

***

They found themselves chasing an ice-cream van (or, more accurately, Jongdae found himself chasing the van while Yixing just followed at a leisurely pace.)

"Orange choc-chip cone please..." Jongdae panted as he slumped against the side of the van. "What do you want, Yixing?"

"Vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce and strawberries please!" Yixing chirped. "Oh, and some rainbow sprinkles while you're at it." He added as an afterthought.

Two pairs of eyes stared at him in disbelief.

"Dude, this ain't a five star parlour you know. I only do cones or ice blocks." The ice-cream man, whose nametag identified him as Chanyeol, chuckled as he handed Jongdae his cone.

"Oh." Yixing deflated slightly, before perking up almost immediately again. "Then can you get me a triple green tea cone instead?"

"Now that, I can manage."

"Can I have sprinkles? Please?"

Chanyeol flashed a brilliant smile at the excited boy and obliged, balancing three generous balls on top of each other before topping it with a shower of rainbow.

"Thank you so much!" Yixing grabbed the cone and was immediately distracted by a passing butterfly, leaving Jongdae to grumble about overly excited babies and empty wallets. Chanyeol grinned sympathetically at the boy. "Your boyfriend is adorable though, I'll give him that."

Jongdae dropped his handful of coins and spluttered half-formed protests. "He's not- We're not- I mean- I'm just- He's not my boyfriend!!"

"He isn't?" A small frown creased Chanyeol's forehead as he watched the butterfly lead Yixing in a fine dance across the grass. "I thought you two were an obvious couple!"

"Well he's not. He's just... my friend."

"You mean, a highly cute and attractive friend."

"Yeah he is rather- wait, no, he's not! He's extremely irritating."

"We'll see about that... Jongdae." Chanyeol whistled and started the engine.

"I DO NOT FIND HIM CUTE OR ATTRACTIVE." Jongdae yelled after the ice-cream van, the familar melody mocking his denial as it faded in the distance. He glared for a few more seconds before realising his ice-cream had melted, coating his hand in a sticky, orange glove. Fuming, he made his way towards Yixing, who had finally given up his mad butterly chase and was his ice-cream contentedly.

I do not find him cute or attractive. I do not find him cute or attractive. I do not-

"Who don't you find cute or attractive, ZhongDai?" Yixing asked conversationally, crunching up the remainder of his cone.

.......

Yeah, Jongdae has a bit of a problem with keeping his thoughts in his head.

I originally didn't plan on adding any other EXO members but, for some reason, the idea of Chanyeol as an ice-cream man just called out to me.

Thank you to everyone who read, commented, subscribed, upvoted, and generally just made my day!

~Lychee